When I started looking into rodent conservation, what I had expected to find was a tail of two species groups: 1) invasive, introduced rodent species dominating the natives, and 2) disappearing native species and simplified ecosystems as a result of habitat loss to human activities. It would appear, however, that the global situation is a […]
Archive for the ‘endangered species’ Tag
There goes the neighborhood?
You dirty rat?
I’ve spent a good chunk of time over the past 2 months putting out small mammal traps to catch rodents at different field sites in coastal Louisiana. My goal is to understand the prey base of local carnivores and then figure out if they are being selective about what they eat or simply taking prey […]
How does an endangered plant garden grow?
In my last post, I talked about some of the challenges facing endangered plant species as crucial elements of the ecosystems they inhabit, such as regular fires or insect pollinators, were lost. This may very well be the tip of the iceberg when you consider that imbalances within ecosystems can also result from too much […]
No plant is an island
When I started looking at the literature on endangered plants, it seemed that many of the issues being faced by these species could be summed up by four main problems: Invasive species outcompeting and/or altering the habitat Loss of habitat through development (and this has particularly hit species with already small ranges- Leavenworthia torulosa, for […]
Seeing green?
I was brain-storming ideas for blog topics and I thought it had been a while since talking about terrestrial plant conservation issues- given the importance of these primary producers in sustaining so many of the environments we depend upon, we should probably be paying attention to their conservation. But every plant issue I could think […]
Endangered species in our CITES
It’s always nice to take a break from the usual routine- a small diversion can provide amusement, a new viewpoint, or just a chance to try something new. This month, I’ve decided to step away from the usual format and go with four posts which provide mainly information about three different elements of one larger […]